Mount Pleasant Magazine Documenting Covid-19

41 www.CoronavirusMag.com | www.ReadMPM.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com feature diminished — a symptom associated with COVID-19 — she thought back to when she might have been exposed to a sick patient. Sure enough, fever struck her a few days later, on March 24. Though it wasn’t accompanied by other flu-like symptoms at first, she decided to get tested the next day. As the week progressed, so did Hall’s symptoms — from fatigue and aches to gastrointestinal distress. Finally, a friend who happens to be a pulmonologist at MUSC dropped off a pulse oximeter at her door. To her surprise, her oxygen level was in the 80s; normal is closer to 100. “So, even though I did not feel short of breath, I was short of breath,” she explained. Hall was able to get admitted to MUSC quickly, and she was sent to an isolation room right away. After testing her, the hospital confirmed that she had COVID-19, as well as pneumonia. She was given an IV, oral antibiotics, Lovenox injections and hydroxychloroquine. “Anyone who came into the room had to be fully covered,” she said. “The doctors would speak to me through a teleprompter. I kept thinking about how brave the nurses were to be around me, as sick as I was.” She added, “The headaches were the worst. It felt like I had an ice pick in my skull. One night, I woke up with body aches so intense that I was crying, wondering if I would survive.” A couple of days later, Hall was transferred from the isolation room into a special ward for people recovering from COVID-19. Then, in a few more days, she was allowed to return home and begin her two-week isolation period. As of our interview, she is feeling much better. “This illness has made me realize that small things don’t matter,” she shared. “Just love your life. I find myself laughing more now at silly little things.” Hall also stressed the importance of considering how hard our health care professionals work and doing our part to keep hospitals from reaching capacity. “People are frustrated that they can’t go out in public. But the men and women on the front line of this pandemic are brave, respectful and committed to helping people survive,” she noted. “They are putting their lives at risk to help others. I pray for everyone’s safety, and I thank God for my life.” RON KENDRICK’S STORY It was March 17 when Mary Kendrick’s husband, Ron, “became very ill, out of the blue.” His symptoms included coughing, body aches and a dangerously high fever, around 102 or 103 degrees. The next morning, at his family physician’s office, Kendrick tested negative for influenza. Next, he was tested for COVID-19 and instructed to self- isolate, though the confirming results would take time. “Thankfully, our bedroom has its own bathroom, so he stayed in the bedroom,” said Mary, who resided in another health and w llness